This is a fun and brilliant post about what I’ve been saying (not on the blog, but in “real” life) about book reviews. Tara crushes this post, and it’s just the kind of thing I wanted to read at 1 a.m.

Number 2 and 10 on this list is spot on. It also takes a number 2 on some of the “high society” views on swearing, smut, and general tomfoolery. Seriously folks, write the book you want to read and people will give you a shot.

Look at my face. Seriously. Take a good long look at this face. It’s blue. And why is that? Why is my face the colour of childish summer skies, frozen computer screens, and musical moons?

It’s because I’m BLUE IN THE FACE telling you that 5-star reviews do not sell books. Stand-alone 5* reviews (rather than bunched together in aggregate, which I admit wield pens of power and therefore refuse to deal with here) are as much of an incentive to readers to buy a book as broccoli yoghurt is to naughty children to behave. They are meaningless: often vapid: frequently regarded as fake, and I have blogged about them so many times that my fingers are weary and my face is blue.

You know what can sell your books, though? A bad review, that’s what. And why is that? Because bad reviews contain 97.5% more useful information than good reviews, that’s why.

Welcome to another Feature Friday…sort of. As always, the days are just whizzing on by. I’m doing something new for this Feature Friday. It’s my first collaborative post. I’d like to welcome Dillon, from over at From Rad to Dad.

Why thank you Corey! It’s a pleasure to be here! Hi, new friends!

A little intro about my family! Korina (my wife) and I are both 26 years old, and at the time I’m jotting this down our son, Killian Jaymes, is 10 months old. I work a normal 7 to 4 Monday through Friday job while Korina runs her amazing nerdy crafting business from home while taking care of Killian, whose occupation is currently pooping his pants and chasing our dog Lupin around.

We run a small Youtube channel where we document our life in weekly videos. Korina and I also both write our parenting blogs and work on our modern fantasy stories! Well, when we find the time to write on the side, which is actually what this blog post is about.

So writing is tough, we all know that. And parenting is tough too, even folks without kids can fully acknowledge that. But what’s it like trying to be a writer and a parent at the same time? That’s what Corey and I have teamed up to shed some light on!

With that great introduction, below are the five questions we are addressing. If you are tackling the challenge of being a parent and writer, feel free to Contact Me with some answers to the questions and we will link you into this post and point people to your page. If you’d like a photo(s) included, be sure to attach them. The parenting struggle is a bit easier when it’s shared.

Now to the questions.

How do you balance work, home, writing, love, and life?

How has becoming a parent changed your outlook on writing and reading?

What’s the biggest misconception you’ve faced with stay-at-home parenting, or parenting in general?

As a parent, where do you go to write? When is the best time for you to write?

Why do you write, and how does that reason impact your writing?

QE’s answers:

1.) For me, scheduling is the single most important thing I do. I’ve found I have to constantly tweak my schedule as life changes (Thor grows). Allocating my time prevents me from over-committing to a single project and leaving others lagging behind. When Thor’s awake or my wife is home, I typically don’t spend too much time writing or editing and instead try to take advantage of the time as a family.

2.) When I became a stay-at-home dad, losing my work identity was hard. As Thor grows, he’ll never look at me as “His dad who was in the military or who was a cop.” I think children having a way to identify their parents to others is important. Dedicating my time to writing and reading lets me share stories with him, but also helps me feel confident he will know his dad “does” something other than just take care of him.

3.) The biggest misconception I’ve faced is that because I’m a stay-at-home dad I have tons of time and don’t really have any commitments. Most laypeople don’t look at writing and editing as a real occupation. When people ask what I do (which inevitably comes up), I tell them I write and edit books. This is usually answered with an awkward smile and look that says, “That’s not really a job.”

4.) I have a study where I write and edit. For me, having a space dedicated to work helps me focus in on what needs to be done and not get distracted. I usually work while everyone else sleeps, or during my son’s naps. Right now, I only sleep 4-5 hours on normal days. When my wife is home for her weekends, I try to catch up on sleep and recharge.

5.) I write because I love reading stories and have always enjoyed telling them. Reading stories to my son is one of my biggest joys. Even though he’s too little to understand them (almost a year old), he still stops what he is doing and listens, as if he’s trying to understand. I write with my son and family in mind. I don’t tailor the stories to them, but knowing they will read them is very empowering. Knowing after I’m long gone my son might have a book I wrote on his own shelf is even more inspiring.

Dillon’s answers:

1.) In short, an unhealthy amount of coffee. Outside of work, my schedule changes frequently and I spend as much time with my family as I can. They recharge my batteries and motivate me to be better than I am — they are my greatest inspiration. I give myself every opportunity to write, I have Google Docs on my phone, so I squeeze in a few lines, or outline points while in line at the post office or even in the bathroom. I make small time throughout my day burst-writing as much as I can, and then I spend time editing in the same fashion. Piece by piece!

2.) My outlook on everything changed the day I found out about Killian. I wanted to write, not for fame or glory, but to simply have him look up at me and say, “my dad is cool, strange, but cool.” I want to write interesting things, motivational words to help him in the future when the rain pours down and I may not be there. I want to read so I know how to answer those questions that he’s going to come at me with. I want him to know there are a million ways to be creative and he can chase any of them.

3.) Parents trying to be perfect. I thought, for a brief moment, that becoming a parent would make me picture perfect. It did anything but. So many parents have picture perfect Facebook lives, and that is garbage. We fight, we cry, we make mistakes, we show up late, we forget the diaper bag, we don’t read bedtime stories every night, we forget to write, we are tired and no one ever talks about all of that being okay. And IT’S OKAY, we are not supposed to be perfect. We are supposed to be human.

4.) I don’t have a dedicated place or time, a lot of my writing is done on my phone in lines or on my lunch break at work. Even though I don’t carve out dedicated time, I still write, I still edit, and I still post. Getting something done when you can is better than not ever getting to it. If I’m gonna pick a time, I really like writing in bed later at night with my wife sitting beside me and Killian sleeping in his crib. A small cup of coffee beside me as I type and a flurry of grammatically horrible words strung together is where I always end the night. Usually followed by me saying, “I’ll fix it tomorrow!”

5.) Two reasons: To motivate other parents, and to remind us all it’s okay to fail and make mistakes. We are not perfect; we are parents. I love being a dad and I want to share the stories of how it’s changed me and hopefully help at least one parent out there not feel so worried about it all. As for my personal writing: I am a genuinely curious day dreamer, and when a character walks into my head I want to chase them down the rabbit hole and see where they go and how their story unravels. I have to know how they end up. I guess I just want to share these stories on both the blog and in my personal writing. I want people to be happy and confident.

That’s it for today! Again, if you’re a parent, grandparent, or parent to fur-babies—we’d love to hear from you. How do you manage the madness? Contact Me and I’ll update this post with your answers and link your blog into the post as well. Every now and then, Dillon and I will recycle this post on our pages and put our feelers out for more struggling writers/parents. From Dillon: Thank’s for taking the time to read! Hopefully you picked up some tricks for your own crazy writing style! Thanks Corey for having me!

Until we all cross quills again, keep reading, keep writing, and as always—stay sharp! As Dillon likes to say on his page, “You’ve got this!”

Where the heck did the week go? I feel like I was writing a Feature Friday post yesterday. Regardless, it’s always a good day when I’m writing about other bloggers and writers. For all of you NaNoWriMo heroes and heroines—I hope you are beating your keyboards into submission.

Speaking of NaNoWriMo, this is quickly shaping up into my favorite month to read blog posts. There is a tantalizing mix of hope, despair, fear, and excitement bouncing about the blogosphere. As I treat this website as a time capsule of sorts, let’s snag some of my favorite posts from the day and wish these writers well on their journey.

The first blogger and blog post I wanted to talk about encapsulates the many emotions these intrepid writers experience. Linda Smith wrote the post, The Month of Living Dangerously. It’s an honest look at the topsy-turvy world many of these writers are living in right now.

Linda does a few things that really caught my eye in this post. She writes honestly, talks about setting realistic goals, and is including her family in the process. The last part of the post where she talks about her granddaughter being hit by a lightning bolt of inspiration still has me smiling. Great stuff!

The next blogger I wanted to spotlight is Patricia M. Robertson. Patricia’s post, Ready, Set, Stop! NaNoWriMo is What You Make It, is a great breakdown of what the month is all about. It’s about more than just pushing out words, it’s about growing as a writer. For those of you who are unsure about all this NaNoWriMo hullabaloo, give her post a read.

What I really enjoy about Patricia’s post is her ability to address the “big picture” in her writing career. Much like her, I enjoy the excitement radiating off of other writers. It’s a contagious thing. Though she may not be able to partake in the insanity of NaNoWriMo, she is still using it to charge her writing. In my opinion, that’s a win!

The last spotlight is for Austin Ezell. If you needed a no-nonsense description of the what NaNoWriMo is about, he’s got you covered with his aptly titled post, National Novel Writing Month. There are a couple reasons I linked Austin’s page. First, I wanted a solid post detailing what the month is about. Secondly, checking out his “About” page I realized we are conjoined spirit writing animals.

If his schedule is any indication of what we can come to expect from his blog page, we are in for series of fun posts. Fatherhood, check. Dungeons and Dragons, check. Gaming, check. Sharing tips from his own experience as a writer, check. Sneak peaks into his future books, check. It’s many of the elements I look for when I search out a blogger. If you’re a regular reader here at QE (thanks), I imagine you are going to want to follow Austin as well.

I wanted to take a moment to thank all three of these folks for (1) being a source of inspiration, (2) taking life by the horns, and (3) making me smile. It’s people like you who make me happy to spend a chunk of my time here in the blogoverse. Best of luck to you all!

That’s it for today! I’ll be happy if I never type “NaNoWriMo” again (all that shift+letter nonsense is making crazy!). If you would like to be featured next Friday, contact me. It always helps if you let me know what specific post you would like to be featured. My goal with Feature Friday is to connect like-minded individuals with one another. The blogoverse is a giant place, and it’s nice to be able to provide some navigation. Until we cross quills again, keep reading, keep writing, and as always—stay sharp!

What a great week of blogging. I discovered new bloggers, read awesome posts, and learned new aspects about the craft. This week, I’m going to be highlighting a couple of science fiction/fact writers and a blogger who was one of my very first followers.

The first spotlight shines for P.A. Kramer: Writer and Scientist. Philip has a wealth of interesting content on his page. The page itself is glorious, and honestly, I’m a little jealous of the layout and design. The minimalist design is elegant, fun, and very easy to navigate. Design aside, there are a lot of gems to be found on his page.

Philip has a doctorate in the biomedical sciences and uses this knowledge and training to analyze science fiction. He also breaks down scientific jargon and makes it more accessible to us mere mortals. Two awesome posts are The Science of Gravity, and The Science of Killing Your Characters. In regards to the latter, plenty of bloggers talk about killing characters, but Philip explains the science behind it. Need to poison a character and leave no evidence for the authorities? Philips got you covered.

Also, Philip’s Billy and Ruben comics are brilliant. Those two are always getting into trouble and the results are often hilarious. Seriously, you should check them out.

Next, I wanted to highlight Tim C. Taylor, over at The Human Legion. Tim is a military science fiction author who can often be found at ale houses in England plugging away on his manuscripts. Tim has been generating momentum with his upcoming books and also writing some really interesting blog posts.

I really enjoyed this article because it highlights the importance of being curious as a writer. I think to hone our craft we must take the time to observe the world and gather new information and experiences (even if it means we have to tear apart owl crap).

Tim is a client of mine, and as such, I always feel the need to plug for their books (because I wouldn’t edit them if I didn’t believe in them). If military science fiction is your bread and butter, you should give his books a glance. The Human Legion is always looking for a new Legionary to populate the ranks.

The last blogger I wanted to mention today is Angelina Kerner over at Where Dragons Reside. Angelina is one of the very first bloggers who ever followed my page, and four months later, she still takes the time to stop by and leave her thoughts. Angelina is a prolific reader and is constantly posting book reviews on her page (which are not rated by stars, but by dragon prints!). She also posts writing tips, and that’s where I will focus the spotlight today.

The two posts I wanted to spotlight are A ‘How To’ Guide to Writing a Novel, and How To Prepare To Write Chapter Summaries. The first article is very intuitive. It’s no small task to try to chronicle all the steps in producing a novel, but Angelina does a great job of breaking it down and offering some useful bits of advice. The second article posted at a time when I was researching the subject. For those of you who like to outline, you should absolutely give it a read.

I wanted to take a moment to thank all three of these folks for (1) reaching out to me, (2) being a source of inspiration, and (3) consistently encouraging enjoyable discussion about both fiction and non-fiction. It’s people like you who make me happy to spend a chunk of my time here in the blogoverse.

That’s it for today! If you would like to be featured next Friday, contact me. It always helps if you let me know what specific post you would like to be featured. My goal with Feature Friday is to connect like-minded individuals with one another. The blogoverse is a giant place, and it’s nice to be able to provide some navigation. Until tomorrow, keep reading, keep writing, and as always – stay sharp!

Another week, another Feature Friday highlighting some great bloggers. I missed out on last week due to Hurricane Matthew, but I’m excited to get back into the rhythm. This week I wanted to highlight a few bloggers who are writing amazing content, coming up with creative solutions, and sharing their experiences. All said, these three are offering up great posts every week.

The first spotlight shines for Sharon Hart over at curioushart. Sharon is a regular contributor here on QE and also writes some spectacular posts. Those posts include flash fiction, writing advice, and enjoyable insights into life in general. Her personality and experience as a teacher really shine through in her posts and make them very enjoyable to read.

Sharon was kind enough to share an experience with me, and it was so insightful I wanted to be sure to share it with all of you. I’ve talked about the struggle of writing a book blurb in the past, and Sharon’s method of tackling it is pretty ingenious.

Since April 2016, I have been participating in a weekly flash fiction writing exercise. Each week I download a picture prompt and I write a story of 150 words or less related to the picture. This practice has really sharpened my vocabulary, grammar, and content. It has turned out to be useful as well.

I had been struggling for weeks to write an engaging and informative back cover description of my book. I finally decided to treat it as a flash fiction story. It worked. Using the same process I use for the flash fiction, I was able to craft a decent description.

I highly recommend the exercise.

What I love about this bit of advice is it highlights the importance and usefulness of consistent writing practices. Even this blog, for me, has impacted my writing in a positive way. I feel the more often we sit down and flex our writing muscles the more multifaceted they become.

The next blogger I wanted to spotlight is Sinister Dark Soul (or as I like to write, SDS). Another regular contributor here on QE, SDS writes complex, compelling, and sometimes frightening poetry. Can we expect anything less from someone who has a site tag that says, “Do you feel safe?” After reading a few of his pieces…the answer is usually “no.”

SDS is one of my daily stops for dark and intriguing posts. I will say, many of these posts are not for the faint of heart. Regardless of your tolerance for macabre writing, there is an undeniable quality in his words and strong themes which carry over from one piece to the next.

The layered and overlapping world SDS has created is vast and growing. If there was a central location in his world, it would be Black Winter. It is populated by some of the most interesting characters I have found in poetry. It’s not a place you want to vacation (unless you are a very dark soul yourself). I don’t have a specific post to recommend because I enjoy them all. With that being said, if the darker side of life (or death) appeals to you, SDS will surely make your most sinister dreams come true.

The last blogger I wanted to highlight is M.L.S. Weech. It’s no secret, Matt and I are old friends from our time in the Navy as renegade combat cameramen. I also edit his books. However, I’m not featuring him for those reasons (though, you should check out his upcoming book Caught). I’m featuring him because he has been writing some truly outstanding posts since transitioning his blog to WordPress.

Matt not only writes books, he also teaches other people how to write (both personally and professionally). These traits and background make him a wealth of knowledge and this is reflected in his posts. I would encourage you to check out his Writing Tips category. It is populated with posts ranging from writing mechanics, to staying motivated. His book reviews are also brilliantly written. They tend to avoid bias, spoilers, and focus on the mechanics the author used in the book. Each one is an essential case study into the writing style of the author.

I wanted to take a moment to thank all three of these folks for (1) contributing regularly on my page, (2) being a source of inspiration, and (3) consistently encouraging enjoyable discussion about both fiction and non-fiction. You all keep me inspired to continue learning everyday.

That’s it for today! If you would like to be featured next Friday, contact me. It always helps if you let me know what specific post you would like to be featured. My goal with Feature Friday is to connect like-minded individuals with one another. The blogoverse is a giant place, and it’s nice to be able to provide some navigation. Until tomorrow, keep reading, keep writing, and as always – stay sharp!

Welcome to another Feature Friday! We’ve survived another week. Today we’ll cast a blazing inferno on some bloggers who are consistently generating insightful posts about the written word. I try to dedicate time to broadening my understanding of the craft, and these folks seem to deliver on a regular basis. I’ll also be compiling the books I used to generate my blog posts this week into a one-stop-shop.

The first blogger I want to talk about is QuestingAuthor. Not only is this a blogger who offers great comments on my page (thanks!), but this blogger also writes a variety of really enjoyable content. If you scroll down to the bottom of their page, you will see all kinds of info-rich categories that include things like writing advice, processes, analysis, and inspiration (to just name a few).

The post that prompted me to reach out and share the love is called, Three Tips to Spice Up that Fight Scene. I know many writers struggle with writing believable fights scenes, and this post offers some enjoyable advice. Not to mention Final Fantasy was used as an example (which is a win in my nerd book).

The second blogger I wanted to give a shout out to is Andrew, over at The Idiot In Tin Foil. Some of you have mentioned how impressive it is that I generate a post each day, well, Andrew writes enjoyable short stories every day. The last time I stopped in, he was on Day 161 of his 642 day challenge. You heard me right. For me, Andrew serves as a source of inspiration. Plus, his short stories are a lot of fun to read.

While I don’t have a specific short story to point you all toward, Andrew has taken the time to categorize his content. You will find short stories that creatively explore the following: violence & murder, sky pirates, the supernatural, superpowers, the bleak wasteland, and many, many more. When I feel my creative well getting dry, I look at Andrews page and say, “If he can write an entire short story every day for 160+ days, I can at least pump out a few pages.”

Third, I wanted to point folks over to Jenn Moss, over at Rough & Ready Fiction. Her page is neatly organized, and her content is always full of insight. She recently updated her page and has done a fantastic job of breaking down her posting schedule. Jenn is also a regular comment contributor here at QE, and often offers very informative tips to help me expand my content and improve collaboration.

While I enjoy all of her writing, I’m a sucker for Meta Mondays as well as Tarot Tuesday. Meta Mondays cover a range of topics, but really they are a way for people to collaborate and discuss varying concepts. For instance, within Meta Mondays she recently posted Anachronisms—Nay or Yea?It’s a great topic for discussion, and her comment section almost reads like a web forum because there are so many thoughtful posters. As for Tarot Tuesday, I find this series to be one of the most insightful explorations into character archetypes, as well as symbols and metaphor.

As always, I wanted to take a moment to thank all three of these folks for (1) contributing regularly on my page, (2) being a source of inspiration, and (3) consistently encouraging enjoyable discussion about both fiction and non-fiction. You all rock!

These are the resources I used this week (Friday to Friday) to create my posts. I’m a voracious eater of greens and believe in the power of self-study to improve writing skill and understanding.

For a more comprehensive list of books I have utilized to build content here on QE, you can refer to this post.

That’s it for today! If you would like to be featured next Friday, contact me. It always helps if you let me know what specific post you would like to be featured. My goal with Feature Friday is to connect like-minded individuals with one another. The blogoverse is a giant place, and it’s nice to be able to provide some navigation. Until tomorrow, keep reading, keep writing, and as always – stay sharp!

Welcome to another Feature Friday! Today we’ll cast a glow on some bloggers who are consistently generating insightful posts about the written word. As always, I try to dedicate time to broadening my understanding of the craft, and these folks seem to deliver on a regular basis. As usual, I’ll also be compiling the books I used to generate my blog posts this week into a one-stop-shop.

The first spotlight shines for Jan, over at Writing your first novel – Things you should know. Jan is always writing informative posts and it’s a shame she hasn’t been generating more views and comments. She covers a number of different topics on her blog. She also does an outstanding job of offering examples of writing, and then showing how it can be improved through the application of the tip she is providing.

One post she recommends (and I would agree), is her post about, On-the-nose Writing. Surprisingly, this isn’t a topic I’ve ever covered here at QE. As she points out, this is a common issue many writers grapple with. I would encourage you to swing over and give her space some love.

The second blogger I wanted to talk about is Steve, over at Red String PaperCuts. This space is unique because it’s a collaboration between three individuals: Steve, Jessie, and Marcy. They work together to provide a range of creative content for their viewers. Depending on the day, you may find a haiku, poem, book update, musing, or solid piece of writing advice.

Steve recently introduced the topic of marketing (an area where he has personal expertise). The post is titled, Marketing Your Novel: Where to Begin? For me, marketing has been an area where I have been struggling to find useful, writing specific, content. I know from the interactions I’ve had with many of you here at QE that this is a subject many of us are trying to figure out. I encourage you to swing by and sponge up some of the information they are offering. It should be noted this post is introductory, and we’ll likely see more marketing tips from them in the future.

The last blogger I want to feature today is Thomas Weaver, over at North of Andover. Thomas is a hilarious and exceptionally knowledgeable mercenary proofreader (freelance editor). His page is almost a daily ritual for me. His “Writing Glitch” series (which is up to #156 last time I checked) snags a sentence, breaks it down, and corrects it. It’s simple, it’s often humorous (not in a mean way), and it’s a quick way to get a grammar fix.

I normally point people to a specific article when I feature them. I’m not doing that with Thomas because I don’t even know where to begin. If I had a recommendation, it would be to go to his home page and check out his Grammar Rants section. If you dare, he also will take a look at an except from your story and incorporate it into his Writing Glitch series. Click here, and become a willing participant. In my opinion, you’re crazy to not accept free copyediting from someone as experienced as him.

I wanted to take a moment to thank Jan, Thomas, and the folks at Red String PaperCuts. It’s humbling for me to be able to share other people’s work and learn from them. One of my overarching goals with creating this space was to build collaborations with other creative minds. You all are helping me achieve this goal.

These are the resources I used this week (Friday to Friday) to create my posts. I’m a voracious eater of greens and believe in the power of self-study to improve writing skill and understanding.

For a more comprehensive list of books I have utilized to build content here on QE, you can refer to this post.

That’s it for today! If you would like to be featured next Friday, contact me. It always helps if you let me know what specific post you would like to be featured. My goal with Feature Friday is to connect like-minded individuals with one another. The blogoverse is a giant place, and it’s nice to be able to provide some navigation. Until tomorrow, keep reading, keep writing, and as always – stay sharp!